Story 82 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

An old proverb says that “as a man thinketh, so he is.” I’d like to alter this somewhat and proclaim that “as a man is conditioned, so he is.” Oft-repeated behaviors, beliefs, views, and thought patterns define who we seem to be. This we feel is carved in stone, because we feel comfortable with what is familiar....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
2 minutes 26 seconds

Download Audio (1.6MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Story 81 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

One time I chose to simply live in a small guesthouse on Gnat Agi Pagoda Road in Bahan Township in Burma. I would forego all travel. Across from my guesthouse was a tea shop from which I could watch all of Burma, past and present, pass by. Further down the road was a stitcher lady who would alter and repair my longyis. And behind her was a monastery where I could meditate....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
2 minutes 44 seconds

Download Audio (1.8MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Story 80 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

Matthew 21:22 promises us, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, ye shall receive.” Now I grant you that few people read the Bible these days, perhaps because they took Matthew too literally. But it doesn't matter, because today the good news of the Bible has been replaced by the Gospel according to Wellness. Pursuit of a good life has been replaced by the pursuit of the perfect life. “Everything ye pursue to become better, smarter, buffer, younger, more assertive, more caring, more inclusive, more diverse leads thee to a perfect life.”...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
5 minutes 37 seconds

Download Audio (3.1MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Story 79 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

Our cottage is on a small lake on the Canadian Shield. Our shoreline is very rocky, with large boulders deposited there as the glaciers retreated 10,000 years ago. Amazingly this shoreline provides sufficient sustenance for trees to grow and, in their own way, thrive. They protrude out perpendicularly from crevices between the rocks before turning upwards to catch a modicum of sunlight and spread their gnarly majesty....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
2 minutes 58 seconds

Download Audio (1.9MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Story 78 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

One summer I drove a truck for an oil company. Two of us installed the oil tanks for furnaces in the basement of houses. It was dirty work. The basements were often unheated. They were seldom clean. One day, it was particularly cold and rainy. We entered through the back door into the kitchen. On my way to the basement stairs I came upon the owners, two unwed older sisters having a breakfast of tea and toast. The tea had just been poured, and...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
4 minutes 51 seconds

Download Audio (2.8MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Story 77 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

Doing non-doing deconditions the mind so that a happy life, defined by the Stoics as true, virtuous, and natural, arises like a phoenix from the ashes of the conditioned mind. Since the real shift is within you, your new life may retain all the appearances of your old life. After all, the difference, they say, between heaven and hell is a mere sixteenth of an inch, surely an imperceptible amount of change in the grand scheme of things....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
4 minutes 22 seconds

Download Audio (2.5MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Story 76 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

In Korea it is considered rude to speak immediately after someone else has just spoken. Korean culture demands a slight pause to indicate the listeners have fully digested and appreciated the input. It gives them pause for thought. This promotes civilized dialogue in which everyone’s view is respected. It also calms blind reactions to some perceived fault in the argument. A pause is a conscious decision to...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
2 minutes 31 seconds

Download Audio (1.7MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Story 75 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

Years ago, when I would walk around my house late at night after everyone else was asleep, it felt like I had always lived there. I liked that it felt that way. As my oldest son said when he was three, “It feels as perfect as right.” I knew where the hardwood floors creaked, and I avoided those spots so I wouldn’t wake the baby who, like me, was a light sleeper. My wife and my five-year-old, he of the aphorism above, slept the sleep of the dead. I could drop a refrigerator on the creaky spots and they wouldn't stir....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
4 minutes 24 seconds

Download Audio (2.6MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Story 74 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

I loved the water buffalo I encountered in India. Despite their girth and their horns, they were very gentle creatures. They calmly abided all and sundry afflictions, heat, mosquitoes, and monsoon rains without so much as a by-your-leave. Other than whisking away unwanted bitey things with their tails, they endured, and they did so ever so calmly....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
2 minutes 29 seconds

Download Audio (1.6MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Story 73 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
.

I loved to go fishing with my father, because he was a terrible fisherman. He never caught anything. I was fine with this. I didn't like to put a worm on the hook. I didn't like taking the hook out of the fish's mouth, and I certainly couldn't bash the head of the fish against the seat of the boat to kill it....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2023
5 minutes 47 seconds

Download Audio (3.2MB)

Audio copyright, 2023 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.